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06/19/03

MOLLY BLUE

Samantha Lang wrestles, one of a handful of girls in a predominantly boys sport.

But the senior-to-be does more than take part: She is a rising star in women's wrestling at the national level.

Lang, runner-up at 1581/2 at the 2003 U.S. National tournament in May, will try this weekend for the first time to earn a spot on the U.S. team at the USA Wrestling World Team Trials in Indianapolis. The tournament will start Friday and end Sunday.

Word of Lang's skills is getting around. Although there still are a few boys who refuse to compete against her, they are few and far between.

"I don't get too many comments now because I've been around for a while," said Lang, 17.

Competing for Tualatin and wrestling against boys, Lang finished the high school season 10-4 with three pins, the fastest in 37 seconds. She was fifth at the Pacific-9 Conference district tournament at 160 pounds.

"She's for real," said Lang's USA Cobra club coach, Bobo Umemoto. "She's strong. I've wrestled with her, and her strength is unbelievable. But she's also agile, and that's a tough combination."

Lang is one of several wrestlers with Oregon ties at the tournament. Among the others are Matt Lindland, an Olympic silver medalist from Gladstone High School and Clackamas Community College; Darryl Christian, formerly of the University of Oregon and Grants Pass High School; and Oscar Wood, who went to Oregon State and Barlow High School of Gresham.

For Lang, this tournament is another step toward competing at the international level. For the first time, women's wrestling will make its Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens.

"I didn't even think about things like the Olympics when I first started wrestling" about 10 years ago, Lang said. "I just fell in love with the sport. I went to tournaments and I started winning, but I never thought of myself as, wow, really good.

"Now, I'm thinking maybe I can go someplace with this. I'm excited."

Maybe pretty far. Lang is ranked No. 1 in her weight class by USA Wrestling and TheMat.com. At the Indianapolis tournament, she probably will face Toccara Montgomery of Cleveland in what is shaping up as a premier rivalry.

Montgomery is ranked No. 2 and beat Lang most recently at the U.S. Nationals. They've met four times since January, and each has won two matches.

Lang works out three hours a day at least four days a week. She also runs every day.

"I like training with guys because they're stronger and quicker," Lang said. "It's tougher to wrestle against them, and that's good training."

Lang said she knows she will be competing at the highest level and that she's ready to make the most of her chance.

"If I win here and get on the world team, that'll be the biggest accomplishment for me. Everything else is just a warmup." Molly Blue: 503-221-8161; mollyblue@news.oregonian.com

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